HOUSTON — This was the beginning of their bell lap, and if the Warriors needed a reminder, Steve Kerr and Draymond Green were ringing the dang thing for them.

You wanted serious? You wanted the raging opposite of their nonchalant regular season? You wanted urgency? You wanted the Warriors to show the world how badly they wanted to win every second of every part of this mega matchup with the Houston Rockets?

The first sign on Monday: Kerr started the Hamptons 5 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, a lineup he usually saves as the climactic move in the most critical moments.

Well, the climactic and critical moment of the 2017-18 season clearly just arrived. So did the championship-level Warriors. And we have seen this before.

The second sign: Green was a little bit over the edge in the opening minutes, slamming his forearm into James Harden under the basket just 67 seconds into the first quarter, drawing an obvious technical foul and further...